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Angola fuel hike protests turn violent, local media report
Angola’s capital, Luanda, saw protests over the hike in diesel prices turn violent on Monday. Local media reported that looting and clashes between police and protesters led to several deaths and arrests. In a bid to reduce costly subsidies and strengthen public finances, the oil-producing nation in Southern Africa raised diesel prices by a third this month. The minibus taxi associations increased fares up to 50%, and began a 3-day strike on Monday. On its website, the Novo Jornal reported that three people were killed during the protests. One of them was a policeman. Novo Jornal reported that the police fired tear gas, smoke grenades and shots in the air, all to try and restore calm. In a press release, the police reported that shops had been looted in Luanda. The statement stated that police made arrests, but did not provide the number. Angola’s finance minister said in October that fuel subsides amounted to 4% of the country’s economic output in last year. The government will continue to remove them in stages. The protests were also deadly when the price of petrol was raised in 2023.
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President of Peru says that he is considering approving $6 billion in mining projects
Dina Boluarte, the president of Peru, said that her government is looking at approving 134 projects for mining exploration and exploitation worth an estimated $6 billion. Boluarte stated in an address before Congress that she expects the formal small-scale mine sector to generate over $5 billion in sales annually by the end this year, and that $4.7 Billion in formal projects are expected to have begun construction by 2026. Officials from Peru, third largest copper producer in the world, are in discussions with informal miners. They launched protests at the end of June, which blocked a major transport corridor used by MMG and Glencore. After over 50,000 miners informally removed from the formalization scheme by the government, the tensions escalated. The government now only wants to bring 31,000 of them into compliance with the regulations before the end this year. Boluarte stated that the government is working to establish a private mining funds which would provide small miners with better access to financing. (Reporting and writing by Marco Aquino, Sarah Morland and Natalia Siniawski).
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Chile will ask the U.S. for copper to be included in U.S. - Chile trade agreement
In an interview on Monday with the local radio station Duna, Mario Marcel, Chile's Finance Minister, said that he expects U.S. tariffs on copper to be discussed in Washington as part of broader U.S. Trade talks this week. Marcel said that Chile would request any tariffs be included in a larger trade agreement with the United States. The Trump administration announced that it would impose a 50% tariff on copper imports starting August 1. Chile is a major supplier of red metal to the United States and also of refined copper, though it sends a much larger volume to China. Monday is the beginning of a third round between Chilean officials, and the U.S. trade representative's office. Marcel stated that he hoped the discussions he and his colleagues will have in Washington today would also include copper. Because it would be unhelpful for us to have an agreement that excluded more than half our exports, like copper and wood. The minister responded that they would include any tariffs in a larger trade agreement. "We would like it to be included in the broader commercial discussion with Chile, not handled separately. It's an important issue," said the minister. Marcel pointed out that other countries had included exemptions and carving-outs in trade agreements. Fabian Cambero reported the story. (Writing by Daina Beth Solon; Editing by Natalia Siniawski.
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Orange Polska maintains full-year guidance, lifts Q2 net profit
Orange Polska announced a 18% increase in its second-quarter net income to 272 millions zlotys (74 million dollars) compared with the same period last year. The analysts polled expected the net profit at 272 millions zlotys. The company stated that the increase in profit was due to the sale of Orange Energia, its energy business, to the Finnish group Fortum. This transaction took place earlier this year. In a statement, CFO Jacek Kubinicki explained that the sales were part of an effort to focus on its core businesses. Why it's important Orange Polska, with a market capitalisation of 11.72 billion zlotys (approximately $9.96 billion zlotys), is the biggest listed telecoms in Poland. CONTEXT Orange Polska announced its strategy for the years 2025-2028 in March. The company set a dividend floor of 0.53 zlotys per share and projected organic cash flows of at least 1.2 bn zlotys a year by 2028. By the Numbers The Polish division of France's Orange saw its revenue in the second quarter 2025 rise 1%, to 3,16 billion zlotys. EBITDA (after leases) rose 4%, to 891 millions zlotys. KEY QUOTES In a recent press release, CEO Liudmila Climov said that "customer bases for all of our telecom services have maintained a healthy growth rate as we cope well with the competitive environment." She added, "In the second part of the year we will maintain strong commercial momentum through a variety of attractive offers that we roll out for our customers in advance of peak seasons."
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Gunmen kill 17 people in a mass shooting in a small town bar in Ecuador
The Attorney General's Office of Ecuador said that gunmen attacked a bar on the coast of Guayas Province in Ecuador, killing at least 17 and injuring 11 others. It was investigating the attack. According to the attorney's office, more than 40 pieces ballistic evidence have been recovered on site. Local media shared images of bodies on the ground covered with white sheets. The attack on Sunday took place in El Empalme in Ecuador, about 160 km north of Guayaquil. This area is considered one of the most dangerous in Ecuador, as organized criminals fight for control over key smuggling routes. At the beginning of last year, Daniel Noboa, President of Ecuador declared that there was an "internal conflict". However, despite measures taken by the state to curb violence in Guayas and other areas. Noboa may have claimed a 15% drop in violent deaths, but the interior ministry says the actual number is higher. again surged In the first half of 2025, 461 will increase by 47 percent. Last month, Ecuador’s National Assembly approved a law reform that gives the government greater legal authority to combat armed groups as well as dismantle drug trafficking networks which fuel their operations. (Reporting and editing by Sarah Morland; Alejandra Valencia)
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Iraq's State Oil Marketer identifies illegal loading of tankers at key ports
According to an official note dated Sunday, Iraq's state oil marketing company SOMO has identified a number of tankers that are suspected of illegally loading petroleum products from the ports at Umm Qasr or Khor al-Zubair. The tankers used advanced techniques, such as Automatic Identification System (AIS) spoofing, to hide their location or change their route. SOMO stated that the ships were not included in its official load schedules. This raised concerns about unauthorised shipments. In a letter to Iraq's National Security Agency, SOMO stated that "These activities have been classified as high risk and may involve illegal practices like tampering tracking systems or performing unauthorized transfers." In an annex of the letter, 11 tankers were listed as suspects: Flora Dolce (Mackerel), Chandrama (Padmanabh), Pontus (Ocean Guardian), Al Safa (Al Safa), Hulda(Hulda), Ultostratos (“Invictus”), Invictus (“Invictus”), Lanikai („Lanikai“) and Lanikai („Lanikai“). The authenticity of the letter was confirmed by two officials from the Oil Ministry, and one official from the SOMO. The warning comes as illicit oil flows are being closely monitored in the region. The U.S. Treasury announced new sanctions against entities that are involved in the Iranian oil trade earlier this month. These include firms that have been accused of assisting Tehran to move sanctioned crude by using deceptive shipping methods such as ship-toship transfers and falsified documents. SOMO called upon Iraqi authorities take the appropriate measures to protect Iraq's oil reserves. SOMO did not respond to a request for comment. (Reporting and Editing by Rod Nickel. Ahmed Rasheed)
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Firefighters fight fires in Turkey Greece and Albania
On Monday, firefighters battled to extinguish wildfires that had erupted in three provinces of Turkey and Greece, as well as near a tourist destination in Albania. The fires were stoked after days of scorching heat in the Mediterranean. Smoke billowed above the mountains of Karabuk province, located 200 km (125 miles), north of Ankara. A wildfire that raged on for six days forced the evacuations of over a dozen villages, and burned large areas of forest. The Forestry Ministry of Turkey announced on Monday that three firefighters died in a vehicle crash on Sunday, northwestern Bursa. On Monday, crews battled two separate fires after more than 3,600 people were evacuated from the provinces Mersin and Antalya in the south. Turkey has seen dozens of fires in the last few weeks due to high temperatures. Ten firefighters died fighting a fire in central Eskisehir Province. In the Mediterranean, summers can be hot and dry. However, in recent years, heatwaves of greater intensity have caused destructive wildfires around the world. The fire brigade reported on Monday that at least 44 wildfires had broken out in Greece over the last 24 hours. Strong winds have rekindled the blaze that has been burning on Kythera in southern Greece since Saturday. Firefighters in Athens quickly put out a fire at the foothills of Mount Hymettus near an university campus and densely-populated suburbs. Over 900 firefighters in Albania fought a wildfire with the help of the army before it reached Saranda, a seaside resort on the Ionian Coast. Police said that 13 people were arrested in the last three days for arson related offences. Bulgaria, with the help of several European countries deployed firefighting aircraft to help contain a large wildfire close to the Bulgarian-Turkish frontier. The flames have so far scorched 16,000 acres. Local media reported that authorities are investigating the cause of these fires and have detained two people. Five people were injured by separate wildfires in Greece over the weekend. Rainy weather in Serbia has helped firefighters put out more than 100 fires. Reporting by Fatos bytyci from Pristina; Daria Sito -Sucic and Aleksandar Vasovic, in Sarajevo; and Tuvan Gumrukcu, in Ankara; writing by Angeliki Koutantou, and editing by David Holmes, Giles Elgood and David Holmes.
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UN: Conflict and climate threaten to halt progress in global hunger reduction
A U.N. study released on Monday said that the number of hungry people in 2024 fell for a 3rd straight year, falling from an era of COVID spike. Conflict and climate shocks also exacerbated malnutrition throughout much of Africa, and Western Asia. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report, which was jointly prepared by five U.N. organizations, 673 millions people or 8.2% of the global population will experience hunger in 2024. This is down from 8.5% in the 2023 report. The report, they said, focused on chronic and long-term issues and did not reflect the full impact of the acute crises caused by specific events or wars including Gaza. Maximo Torero is the chief economist of the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization. He said that improved access to food was responsible for the overall decline, but warned that conflict and other issues in places like Africa and the Middle East could undo those gains. "If the conflict continues to escalate, it is inevitable that vulnerabilities will continue to increase and debt stress will continue to rise," he said on the sidelines a U.N. Food Summit in Ethiopia. In remarks delivered via video link at the summit, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated that conflict continues to drive hunger in Gaza and Sudan. "Hunger feeds future instabilities and undermines peace." The U.N. report stated that the South American and Southern Asian regions will see the greatest progress in 2024. In South America, it fell from 4.2% to 3.8% by 2024. In Southern Asia it dropped to 11%, down from 12.2%. Torero stated that the progress in South America is largely due to better agricultural productivity, social programmes such as school meals and Torero's own words. It was mainly due to the new data that showed more people in Southern Asia had access to healthy food. In 2024, the overall hunger rate was still higher than 7.5% in 2019, before the COVID pandemic. In Africa, the picture is quite different. Productivity gains have not kept up with population growth, conflict, extreme weather, and inflation. Hunger is now more common than 20 years ago. In 2024, one fifth of the population on the continent (307 million) will be chronically malnourished. The report stated that Africa could have 500 million hungry people by 2030, which is nearly 60% of all the world's hungry. The report stated that the gap between global food prices inflation and overall inflation reached its peak in January 2023. This will increase the cost of diets, and hit low-income countries the hardest. It added that the overall adult obesity rate rose from 12% to 16% by 2022. According to the report, the number of people who cannot afford to eat a healthy meal has dropped by a third in the last five years. The figure was 2.76 billion. (Additional reporting by Aaron Ross from Nairobi and Sybille De La Hamaide from Paris. Editing by Andrew Heavens.)
Wall Street sets records as euro falls after US-EU trade agreement
Investors welcomed a new trade agreement between the U.S.A. and European Union cautiously, as the markets began a week of intense activity.
The STOXX 600 reached a four-month peak with a 0.5% increase, while the euro fell 0.7% against the US dollar. This was the biggest blow to the 10% rally this year since May.
The EU will spend $600 billion in U.S. investment and impose a 15 percent import tariff on the majority of EU goods. It will also open up important parts to its market.
Chris Turner, an ING analyst, said: "The deal is much better than the 30%-50% tariff rate that was threatened in the last few months. However, it is likely to be as bad as universal tariff rates discussed late last year."
The U.S./EU agreement averts a potentially damaging standoff between two blocs that account for almost a quarter of global trade. However, a number European capitals have complained about its lopsidedness in favor of Washington.
There are still major deals to be finalised before Trump's deadline of August 1.
The U.S.-China talks in Stockholm, Sweden on Monday should lead to an extension of the 90-day trade truce between the two countries. Meanwhile, the deal struck by Europe follows the one with Japan last weekend.
MUFG FX Strategist Derek Halpenny stated that the EU deal is ultimately "good from a perspective of financial markets as it further reduces uncertainty ahead of the 1st August which now looks like an insignificant day".
Apolline Menut, fund manager Carmignac, called it a victory for the U.S. given the forced purchase of U.S. military and energy equipment and the zero tariff retaliation from Europe.
She said: "This isn’t a breakthrough in trade - it’s damage control to the benefit of diplomatic pragmatism." "The economic costs may be painful, but the strategic calculus remains brutally rational."
The export-heavy DAX in Germany and the CAC 40 in France had both risen initially, but had slid back into negative territory early afternoon trading. Meanwhile, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq's futures indicated that Wall Street would resume with new record highs.
As Asian markets reopened the euro also gained strength, but fell further into the red when the dollar pushed higher across the board.
The yields on government bonds in the Eurozone, which is a proxy of borrowing costs, have also been pushed down.
The benchmark yield for the euro zone, Germany's 10-year bond, fell 0.5 basis points to 2.71%. It had risen more than 10 basis point at the end last week, when the European Central Bank tempered talk of rate cuts imminent.
FED, BOJ AWAIT
The S&P 500 futures, Nasdaq, and Dow were all between flat and 0.3% up as the EU deal signed at Donald Trump's golf club in Scotland over the weekend added to the ones that were struck in Asia with Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines last week.
Morgan Stanley analysts said that the likelihood of the S&P reaching its "bull case" by mid-next year of 7,200 points had increased, but was still "not without risk" due to possible tariff-driven inflation and high U.S. long-term bond yields.
Overnight, MSCI’s broadest regional share index ended 0.3% lower, while Japan's Nikkei fell more than 1% from its one-year-high last week.
The Australian dollar was trading at $0.657 and hovered around its near eight-month high.
Traders also await interest rate decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan. They are also looking forward to monthly U.S. payrolls and earnings of megacap companies Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.
Investors will need to pay attention to the comments of officials to determine the future interest rate path. The BOJ can now raise rates this year because of the trade agreement with Japan.
The Fed will likely be cautious about any further rate cuts, as they are awaiting more data on the impact of tariffs and inflation to make a decision.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's refusal to cut rates. Two Trump-appointed Fed Board members have outlined reasons to support a rate reduction this month.
Oil prices have risen in commodities after the U.S. EU trade agreement. Brent crude futures as well as U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude both rose 0.5%.
On reduced demand for traditional safe-havens, gold prices fell 0.1% to $3.334 an ounce. This is their lowest level in almost two weeks.
(source: Reuters)